A federal three-judge panel in Birmingham rejected Alabama’s attempt to use a newly drawn congressional map for the November elections, ruling that the plan discriminated against Black voters and could not be implemented so close to Election Day. The judges said the state’s map was tainted by intentional race-based discrimination and ordered that the map drawn by a court-appointed special master remain in place for the 2026 elections.
The ruling deepens a nationwide redistricting fight that has intensified after the Supreme Court narrowed the Voting Rights Act in a recent Louisiana case. Alabama officials argued that the new map should be allowed, but the panel said the evidence showed no genuine partisan motive and found the map failed under the Supreme Court’s updated standard because it intentionally diluted Black voting power. The judges emphasized that they had reviewed the case through the lens of the high court’s new ruling, yet still concluded that Alabama’s plan violated the Constitution.
Attorney General Steve Marshall said he would immediately appeal to the Supreme Court, setting up what could become the first major test of the court’s new approach to race-based challenges to congressional maps. He said he was “disappointed, but not at all surprised” and insisted the state would eventually prevail.
Governor Kay Ivey has already scheduled special primaries for August in four House districts that would have been affected by the new map. The judges warned that changing district lines now would cause major confusion among voters and election officials. Citing testimony from Alabama’s director of elections, the court said redrawing the map would require a “chaotic, decentralized, and herculean effort” across state and county offices.
The panel said it was deeply aware of the seriousness of its decision, but concluded there was no close question because the state’s map intentionally discriminated by race. The judges noted that they were reluctant to interfere with state affairs but said they could not permit Alabamians to vote under a plan already found unconstitutional.
The dispute has been one of the most closely watched voting-rights battles in the country. Alabama, where more than one in four residents is Black, has been under pressure for years over claims that its congressional lines weaken Black political influence. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that Alabama likely violated the Voting Rights Act and should draw a second majority-Black district or one close to it. State lawmakers then approved a revised map that still fell short, increasing the Black voting-age population in one district to about 40 percent rather than creating a second opportunity district.
That map was struck down, and the court appointed a special master whose plan was used in the 2024 elections, helping elect Democrat Shomari Figures. The panel said that same map should remain in use for the upcoming election.
The decision may also affect other Southern states rushing to redraw districts amid the legal uncertainty. South Carolina lawmakers are debating a map that could eliminate the state’s last majority-Black congressional district, even as voting begins. The Alabama ruling underscores how the Supreme Court’s recent decisions have intensified partisan and racial gerrymandering battles across the South, especially in states where Black voters have long relied on district lines to preserve representation.
